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Doesn't like solids--what should I do?

My 6.5 month old does not like any solids that we've tried. We started with oatmeal cereal, then tried applesauce, and recently avocado (this actually made him shudder). All he does is spit the food right back out and give me a sour-puss face. At what point do I just give up on one food and try another? (We've been waiting almost a week between introductions because of food allergies.)

Should I back off and not offer any solids for a while, or continue to offer something everyday? He seems really interested in the food that we are eating--he often tries to reach for our food and watches us intently while we eat. But he is too young for self-feeding, right?

I do still nurse him every 2 hours..maybe he is just not hungry? He has had some growth issues (weight and length), so I want to be sure that the solid food is not displacing his bm intake.

Re: Doesn't like solids--what should I do?

Those first few weeks of solids aren't really for nutrition, but more for experimentation. Baby is still getting all his nutrition from the BM, and at this stage of the game the solids aren't yet replacing the BM meal.

Don't forget that it's not uncommon for children to refuse a new food the first time offered. It might be refused for lots of reasons: taste, texture, too hot, too cold, hates the spoon it comes on, hates the bib he's wearing, and on and on. You may need to offer a food 10-15 times before deciding if they really don't like it, then wait a while and try again. So if you're waiting a week between introductions, keep offering the food all week long and that will amount to approximately 14 attempts.

Re: Doesn't like solids--what should I do?

My son did the same thing, he would refuse anything we offered him, but still looked super interested when we were eating, so I started just putting very small little pieces of well cooked veggies and such on his highchair, and he'd just play with them, but he felt included. On occasion I would "help" him feed it to himself.

Now, at 12 months, he'll eat pretty much anything we put in front of him. Don't rush it, let your LO just play with the food, dont' worry about the mess, and as long as you are still breastfeeding, your baby wiill be getting all the nutrients they need from mommy's milk.

Re: Doesn't like solids--what should I do?

Hi Angela,

I can't help you much but just would like to say that my ds is the same. He's 6.5 months and always has this starving look whenever we're eating but won't take any food from a spoon. But... one day (he was 5.5 months) he took a piece of banana from my hand and put it straight into his mouth! He seems to want to self-feed. According to the baby-led weaning theory (maybe you'll want to check this further), babies can start to self-feed at this age (certain soft foods) but although I love the idea I feel really scared... So what I'm doing for now is tricking my ds like this: I give him half a banana and put a bit of mashed banana on top of it. It's VERY messy but at least I have peace of mind. If I try to spoon feed him the mashed banana he doesn't take it. Oh, and he only eats bananas. I've tried sweet potato but didn't managed to cook it so that he could hold it... it fell into pieces.
Hope you get better help and good luck!
Daniela

Re: Doesn't like solids--what should I do?

Thanks for your replies--I've been reading up on baby-led solids and am very interested in the idea. We've been offering him those mini-bananas for him to feed himself, but he is still not interested. I guess I'll just keep offering every day, with the hope that someday he gets truly interested.

Re: Doesn't like solids--what should I do?

It will probably take a while before your LO decides - or is able to - move that banana from the tray to his mouth. For one, banana is slippery and hard to pick up, even with a really good pincer grasp! Two, that banana is just the toy of the moment. Unless, of course, you're eating the banana. In that case, it's the only food your LO every wanted Our DD has been playing with her food for months, but only recently got very good at eating it. In the meantime, I'd let her have a bite of my banana, or I'd try to eat food that was ok for her to have and if she was knocking herself out trying to get at it, I'd give her a bite. I kind of think of it as a new adventure in tastes and textures and tend not to worry if some stuff is on a spoon and some is in her hot little hand. Paint-the-Moon suggested something months ago that I do now, and that's cooling some oatmeal in the fridge and giving it to DD in little chunks. It's sticky enough to pick up and you can cook it soft enough to give to baby.

Re: Doesn't like solids--what should I do?

In Japan they don't introduce solids until 1 year. My son is 8 months and he's interested in my food but usually spits the food I try to feed him out. Recently he's been a little more interested. There's no rush to introduce solids. It'll come.